Actually a decent fat bike article by Bicycling magazine

So there are a couple mistakes that those in the know will notice, but otherwise this is a pretty good article. They go into subtle things like why some of the Surly tires are named the way they are... stuff I'm sure most of us have heard before, but the writer is actually on a ride with the guy who the Nate was named after. So that's cool.

Yes, a decent article, but when are internet sites and magazines devoted largely or entirely to bikes going to stop writing fat bike articles that starts out with some variation on "get this, there's these crazy people out there riding bikes with giant fat tires! In the SNOW!!!"? I mean, maybe if the article appeared in People Magazine, but by now most people intentionally reading a magazine about bikes either own one, have ridden one, have seen one in person or at least read a few articles about them.

I didn't think it was that great... Read like a Surly promotional article.

Knowing as much as many of us here do... yes.
But if you were walked through your intro to fatbiking by a bunch of people from QBP's home turf, you may think similarly.
I thought it was reasonable and he did identify himself as a newbie. And yes, newbies do think often think they have just come to this realization they must tell the world about. (Not accounting for the million who already know)

I didn't think it was that great... Read like a Surly promotional article.

I dunno... I've rarely ever read an article where they give credit for originating them to Fatback, 9zero7, and Wildfire.

QBP is kind of the "mecca" for it right now, so of course they would go to MN. And whether you want to admit it or not, Surly did "mainstream" fat biking with their production of tires and rims. We wouldn't have what we have now without them.

Or believe that Specialized and Trek (and the other new rushes) to the fat bike world had anything to do with it.

...Be careful what you're looking at because it might be looking back...

Maybe being in Alaska has shown the fatbike world in a different light. Obviously QBP is going to be popular in MN but I wouldn't go saying it's the "mecca". Surly has always taken rather obscure ideas and ran with them, i.e the Fargo, Krampus, Big Dummy, Pugsley etc.

Up here though, except for the tires, Fatback was and still is making rims, hubs and cranks along with frames and forks and 9zero7 was making rims when they first started too and now makes hubs, forks, etc.

Honestly, I liked the article. As far as QBP goes I like their tires, and their rims offer a relatively low cost and effective product that benefits many people. But when I first became interested in fat bikes I rode a Surly and didn't like it. I continued to research and was intrigued by the experience and passion that Greg M. brought to the table with his Fatback products. The fact that their frame was aluminum and made in the USA (at Zen Manufacturing) sealed the deal for me. I bought one and built it up with a lefty fork from MCS and I have never thought for one minute their might be something better for me. I will say that the new carbon bikes are very interesting but I don't have a reason to switch at this point. I absolutely love my Fatback I am pretty certain that if QBP dropped out of the fat bike business tomorrow Fatback wouldn't be affected as they have all of the critical components themselves. There are some people that prefer steel for frames but I think most people are drawn to the china made products more on price than anything else. Surely the companies selling those products can sell at lower prices and still be wildly profitable compared to a small builder selling an American made frame. Thankfully we are very fortunate in this country to have the multitude of buying choices currently available to us, and we all like what we like.

The reality is that the people that will benefit from fat bikes becoming "popular", or "mainstream" are the people selling them and the parts.

+1 - so true - I can't tell you how often I get tired scrolling down through pages of fat tires just wishing we were back to the Endo when my buddy and I were the only fatbikers in town. I can't enjoy myself in the forest anymore what with the other Johnny come lately fatbikers hooting 'n hollering plus the QBP trucks rolling down my street at Midnight hauling all that gold wrecking my sleep!